


a sudden sensibility

by anthropologicalhands



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jane Austen Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2019-05-17 02:30:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14823521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthropologicalhands/pseuds/anthropologicalhands
Summary: There was nothing Miss Tenten wished for in that moment more than to die.Or, taking into account that her health was too robust for spontaneous combustion, a swoon might have been appropriate, as jumping out the window would certainly not have been. In a true and just world, virtuous young ladies who made sensible decisions concerning their future happiness were spared such unseemly mortification.





	a sudden sensibility

There was nothing Miss Tenten wished for in that moment more than to die.

Or, taking into account that her health was too robust for spontaneous combustion, a swoon might have been appropriate, as jumping out the window would certainly not have been. In a true and just world, virtuous young ladies who made sensible decisions concerning their future happiness were spared such unseemly mortification.

Or undignified displays as  _gibbering_.

To be fair to poor Miss Tenten, the narrator at this point in time feels it necessary to point out that this was merely an over dramatization. For all outward appearances, she was remarkably composed in her respects to Mr. Neji Hyuuga, the head of Hyuuga estate and the very man whose proposal she had so passionately denied but three months past.

He looked well, countenance just as handsome, dressed so well in his coat and cravat. At least, she was gratified by the sudden stiffness of his limbs, the tightening of his jaw, that indicated he was hardly unmoved by her unexpected appearance in his ancestral estate. Another reason for embarrassment: when she and Kurenai had been met by the housekeeper, and they had been assured most assiduously that he was not in residence.

Small comfort, then, when the moment she wandered off to explore by herself she happened to stumble upon him at leisure.

Unfortunately, they could hardly speak of the event that caused them both such distress, for they were not alone in the room. Miss Hyuuga was also present, rising up from the pianoforte, her pretty performance interrupted by Tenten’s appearance and the abrupt change it brought about in her cousin. Tenten was struck by how greatly they resembled each other, though Miss Hyuuga was much smaller. Her eyes held a softer light than his, and her features rounded where his were sharp. Still, she held Tenten’s gaze with the same sort of piercing directness, though there was no judgment in it.

“So you are Miss Tenten!” cried Miss Hyuuga, moving quickly around the seat to approach her, hands clasped before her chest, smiling warmly. “I have heard wonderful things about you; it is delightful to meet you at last.”

“Thank you,” stammered Tenten, managing to dip into a proper curtesy, despite her shock. “Though whom should I thank for such kind words?”

“Whom else but my cousin?” asked Miss Hyuuga. “I get few visitors of my own, and it is my understanding that you two have been much in each other’s company these last few months.”

“An exaggeration. We have met but a handful of times.”

“Though admittedly, we did share lodgings for a marked majority of our acquaintance,” said Neji, and Tenten was startled to hear in his tone no challenge or contradiction. “I am afraid Miss Tenten was obliged to put up with me well past her own endurance.”

The little self-deprecating smile he gave her was gratifying; it pleased her, to see him making an effort so different from prior encounters, even when he was just as stiff and uncomfortable as she was.

“Hardly past my endurance,” returned Tenten, though smiling a little now at him, to show she did not mean the words as a rebuke. “Indeed, Miss Hyuuga, your cousin must be commended, for he was able to withstand several consecutive days of sporting with my brother, and that is no small feat.”

This made Miss Hyuuga giggle. But her look soon grew concerned.

“But was he not durable with you?”

“Pardon?” asked Tenten, and heard her question echoed by Neji.

“Cousin, do correct me if I do not recall our conversation correctly, but did you not say that while Mr. Gai and his son was no trouble, you feared that you lacked the endurance to keep up with Miss Tenten’s pursuits?”

Neji, though he did not move but to blink, conveyed a great deal of embarrassment in the minute gesture, as well as the coloring of his face. Tenten felt warmth rise in her cheeks, both in sympathy and in the implication of the sentiment conveyed. Miss Hyuuga, however, did not seem aware of the change she afflicted upon them, moving smoothly to the next pressing matter.

“Of most interest to me is your fascination with the tactics of war, Miss Tenten. I know there are many who would not speak well of it, but my cousin is quite fascinated by the depth of your knowledge, and so am I, though it does not occupy my thoughts in the same capacity. We simply have to give you a tour of the library, and our collections. And I have heard that you enjoy riding—we  _must_ take you out to the woods during your stay here.”

Tenten stammered out a reply that she could not possibly intrude, at the same time as Neji said, “Do not push Miss Tenten.”

“It would hardly be an intrusion,” said Miss Hyuuga, still speaking sweetly, but with a faint edge of steel Tenten found both amusing and unnerving. “Besides, are you not always telling me I should spend more time in the company of my own sex?”

“You are in a most mischievous turn of mind, cousin,” said Neji with great severity; not meeting Tenten’s eyes, though she did not hide her own curiosity at this exchange. It was hardly the strained relationship others had described; not this easy comradery of cousins.

Tenten found herself hesitating, when Miss Hyuuga appealed again to her directly for her acquiescence to stay with them. She liked Miss Hyuuga a great deal more than she expected; there was a delightful firmness of character under the gentle manners that were so fussed over by outside society. She also could not help but privately admit that as much as she protested again the idea of seeing Neji on more personal terms—now that they had met again face-to-face, it would be most cowardly to run away. His proposal and subsequent letter, though no longer provoking raw sensibility, still occupied much of Tenten’s foremost thoughts. Especially now, seeing him argue with his cousin, seemed that he spoke the truth in his letter: that troubled relationships of the past were long smoothed over, that he endeavored to become a different person than what he had been.

Despite her initial feelings, she was more inclined, perhaps, to listen to him, and understand his meaning better.

Miss Hyuuga spoke her name again, and Tenten was forced to redirect her attention back to the younger girl, and the invitation she was determined to extend. Her face was open and for all of her cousin’s suspicions aside, full of nothing but innocent anticipation of good company. Neji seemed to regard Tenten with a greater trepidation, an expression that was foreign to his features but, Tenten believed, was hardly unbecoming.

“I have no pressing business to attend,” she relented. “Though I must speak with my aunt first on this matter.”

Miss Hyuuga expressed a great delight in Tenten’s acceptance, so far as reaching out and clasping Tenten’s hands, before leading her towards the door and insisting, her ever-gentle tone brooking no resistance. Somehow, she drew Neji also after them, and Tenten found herself somehow arm-in-arm with Neji, heading down towards the grounds, Miss Hyuuga insisting that they extend the invitation to Kurenai as well as quickly as possible. She walked just far enough ahead that she would not be able to overhead Tenten or Neji’s conversation, so long as they kept their voices low. Whether this was by design or simply an unusual burst of energy, Tenten could not quite determine.

“Forgive me,” said Neji, in the barest murmur. “I hope we have not spoiled the remainder of your visit in this part of the country.”

He had to bend down towards her to be heard—though they were not walking so close as to be improper, it was much closer than they had ever been before, and Tenten felt her skin prickle, and she was caught between two simultaneous but opposite impulses: to lean in closer or to pull away.

She submitted herself to lean in a little closer, and smile at him, though it was still strained.

“It is no matter. In fact, I am glad for it. I have missed our jousting.”

Neji snorted. “What part, with words or lances?”

His voice was much warmer than she had ever heard it, save his confession. More wry, more warmth and so much lacking the stiffness that made their communication so strained in public society.

“Both,” said Tenten, playing along. “Though you must not get so cross this time, if I disarm you.”

“Of that, I have had fair practice. Perhaps you might pity me enough to allow me a turn.”

“I believe you already have,” said Tenten, thinking of his letter, and fighting the accompanying blush. Mercifully, he did not press further, though he did not hide his own thoughtfulness. A little embarrassed, Tenten cast about her thoughts, searching for something more suitably impish, to offbalance him a little, as he had been with his cousin. It pleased her to see him like that, after seeing him so buttoned up before, during her time at the Uzumaki residence.

“I will allow you a fair and proper chance,” said Tenten. And, wanting to see him discomfited again, added, “Provided that you can tire me out.”

He stumbled and reddened and did not respond, though she could feel him looking at her. She did not try to suppress her smile.

Perhaps this would be a fortuitous visit.


End file.
